Digital Nomads: Alma Asinobi learned to build mobility by confronting her own immobility
Alma Asinobi remembered the moment reality set in. The profession she had prepared for would not fund the life she wanted to live. It was late 2020, and she had just finished her master’s degree in architecture from Covenant University, Ota, in Southwestern Nigeria. Asinobi did the math: if she stayed in the profession and stretched a Nigerian junior architect’s salary, she would not be able to travel the way she wanted. According to Glassdoor data from July 2022, junior architects in Lagos earned between ₦124,000 and ₦208,000 ($299–$502 at the official exchange rate at the time) monthly, underscoring the modest pay many early-career professionals in Nigeria’s architecture industry received. But before this awakening, Asinobi had been quietly building other skills. She managed a blog, ran a small thrift business and learned how communities formed around social media. She applied for a content writing role at an investment management startup, Cowrywise, in late 2020. Although she didn’t get the job, her writing caught the attention of a human resources manager who found her Instagram profile and later offered her a content marketing strategist role. “My entire career in tech started not because I studied anything in marketing,” she said. “It was just me putting out these skills I already had.” She built a community on the Cowrywise app around savings and took on consulting work. By the time she decided to leave the role, she had assembled what she calls six streams of income, and none of it came from the degree she had spent years pursuing. The first trip beyond the Nigerian border But the real shift that would define her next five years came in 2020, on a weekend road trip to Benin Republic that she said cost her ₦45,500 ($121.62, using the exchange rate as of March 2020). It was an escape with two friends, and only a few days before the COVID-19 pandemic locked the world down. “We got a taxi, took a drive to the border, and then we stayed in Benin Republic for the weekend,” she said. Asinobi documented all the trip entailed, and pulled it all together into an ebook and put it up for pre-order while she was still travelling. By the time she returned to Lagos, the pre-order sales had exceeded what she had spent on the entire trip. “I realised that there was a gap,” she said. “Many people wanted the information, but not enough people were sharing it.” During the lockdown, when travel was not possible, she shared what she was learning about the creator economy. When the world reopened, she travelled to Senegal in November 2021, deliberately flooding her feeds with content, so that she would not be known merely as someone who travelled occasionally, but as someone for whom travel was central. Asinobi shared, “During that period, I started to post a lot more about my trips and everything, and I knew that I was coming closer and closer to the end of my time in the nine-to-five.” By January 2022, she said she had to quit her fintech job to pursue content creation full-time. In August that same year, she received an offer to resume a role as an associate in content & performance marketing from a Nairobi and Berlin-based company, Kwara, a startup turning credit unions into modern digital banks. The role allowed her to temporarily move to Nairobi, Kenya, which she did through an East African Visa by October of the same year. Months later, Asinobi, in pursuit of another stream of income to fund her travel lifestyle, said she realised she wanted to build a travel company. At this point, she was also planning one-off trips for people, ranging from honeymoons to getaways, while providing information on visa applications, and also growing her personal brand as a travel content creator. Earnings in foreign currency from her role at Kwara also allowed her to save and build her travel fund without the fluctuations common to the Naira. In December 2022, she returned to Nigeria and realised that the demand for travel information from her travel community was overwhelming. People were reaching out to ask for help with visas and inquiring about how to navigate travel systems. The same month, she launched Kaijego, her travel business, after realising that she could not help people at scale without structure. The name “Kaijego” is linked to Asinobi’s Igbo roots, a tribe in Southeastern Nigeria; combining “Ka anyi je” (let’s go) with “Anyi e je go” (we have gone). Kaijego solves a specific problem: Africans want to travel. But they are immobilised by the fear of going alone, fear of visa rejection, fear of the sheer machinery of planning in a system that was not built for them. Kaijego removes part of that friction. It provides companions, a route, and proof that the journey is possible. In March 2023, Kaijego had its first group trip to Beirut, Lebanon. And Asinobi learned something: the trip itself is not the endpoint. The first Kaijego trip. Image source: Kaijego/IG “When people travel with us for the first time, they realise there’s more,” she said. “There’s more to see, more to do, more of the world they want to see. And within a few trips, they’re already considering moving abroad, and building different lives.” Travel, she also discovered, is about perspective. It is about knowing what 24-hour electricity feels like, what a road without potholes looks like, and what becomes possible when you see it with your own eyes instead of imagining it from home. “When they come back home with that perspective, they know what exists,” she said. “They can demand more.” Kaijego in Jordan, October 2023. Image source: Kaijego/IG She sees the gaps that keep Africans grounded: the opaque and capricious visa systems, the currency conversions that make travel prohibitively expensive, the ecosystem of visa agents charging different prices for the same service, and the lack of transparency about why applications are denied. African travellers paid a steep price
Read MoreKenyan cross-border fintech WapiPay enters Canada with money services licence
WapiPay, a Kenyan cross-border payments fintech, has entered the North American market after securing a Money Services Business (MSB) licence from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), part of the company’s global expansion. The licence allows the company to offer foreign exchange, money transfer, and payment services in Canada through a newly established subsidiary, while also providing regulatory approval to handle virtual currency and digital asset transactions. The approval gives the Nairobi-founded company its first regulated operational hub in North America, extending a payments network that already includes Africa, Asia, the UK and the Caribbean. “Securing a footprint in North America through obtaining a Money Services Business licence is a massive milestone for WapiPay,” co-founder and CEO Edward Ndichu told TechCabal on Saturday. “By pairing traditional fiat payment capabilities with virtual currencies and digital assets under a robust Canadian regulatory framework, we are building the next generation of global financial rails.” Global ambitions The expansion comes as African fintech startups seek regulatory licences across multiple jurisdictions to facilitate faster cross-border payments, particularly between developed markets and emerging economies where correspondent banking remains costly and fragmented. According to the World Bank, sending $200 to Sub-Saharan Africa costs an average of about 7.7% of the transaction value, making it the world’s most expensive remittance corridor and well above the UN Sustainable Development Goal target of 3%. This creates a large market for fintechs promising faster and cheaper settlement. The North American entry is part of fintech’s global expansion over the past year, Ndichu told TechCabal. In April, WapiPay secured regulatory approval to launch in Jamaica, using the Caribbean nation as a gateway for remittance and trade flows between Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Founded in 2019 by twins Eddie Ndichu and Paul Ndichu, the company initially focused on facilitating payments between Africa and Asia, targeting traders and small businesses moving goods across those corridors. But in recent months, it has also begun to push deeper into the financial services that sit atop those transactions. In February, it launched a remittance-based credit-scoring platform designed to help Kenyan banks use diaspora remittances to assess borrowers with little or no formal credit history, an attempt to turn billions of dollars in annual remittances into usable financial data for lenders.
Read MoreTop South Africa tech investor says it is no longer just a Tencent story
For years, investors have judged Prosus by a single yardstick: Tencent. The Amsterdam-listed internet giant, majority-owned by South African consumer internet group Naspers, built much of its market value on an early investment in the Chinese technology company. While Prosus assembled a portfolio spanning food delivery, payments, classifieds, and e-commerce across emerging markets, Tencent remained the business that mattered most. Now Prosus says that equation is beginning to change. In a trading statement released on Friday ahead of its annual results, the company said all of its operating ecosystems had reached profitability, marking a milestone in its effort to build businesses capable of generating earnings beyond Tencent. Prosus generated $7.3 billion in revenue and $1.1 billion in ecosystem adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) for the year ended March 31, 2026. Core headline earnings per share are expected to increase by between 19% and 28%, while headline earnings are forecast to rise by between 6.7% and 15.7%. For much of the past decade, investors have questioned whether Prosus’s collection of operating businesses could create enough value to justify the billions invested in them. While Tencent consistently delivered outsized returns, many of Prosus’s businesses remained focused on growth rather than profitability. Friday’s statement suggests that transition may be reaching a turning point. “This is probably the first time that all of the ecosystem assets are cash-flow positive and generating a profit,” Rowan Williams, chief investment officer at Nitrogen Fund Managers, told TechCabal. “That should help Prosus become increasingly independent and less reliant on Tencent’s cash flows.” The comment goes to the heart of a question that has followed Prosus for years: whether the company could build a profitable operating business beyond the Chinese technology giant that transformed Naspers into one of the world’s most valuable technology investors. “The financial year ended March 2026 marked a milestone for Prosus,” stated Prosus in its trading statement. “We delivered on our ambitious targets, generating over US$7.3 billion in revenue and US$1.1 billion in Ecosystem adjusted EBITDA. Every one of our ecosystems is now profitable, and our free cash flow, excluding Tencent, continues to grow.” The company said stronger revenue growth and profitability across its consolidated businesses, alongside improved contributions from equity-accounted investments such as Tencent, drove earnings higher. The results also offer a clearer view of how Prosus wants investors to see the company. Rather than positioning itself as a technology investment holding company, Prosus is increasingly presenting itself as an operator of digital platforms. “We have completed our transformation from a traditional holding company into an active operator of AI-driven lifestyle ecosystems across Latin America, Europe and India,” the directors said. That shift is visible across the group’s portfolio. Prosus controls Brazilian food delivery giant iFood, owns payments business PayU, and continues to invest in e-commerce, fintech, and online marketplace businesses. In August, it announced plans to increase investment in iFood. Yet Tencent remains central to the investment case. Prosus said earnings growth from its operating businesses was partly offset by a lower gain from Tencent share sales and unrealised foreign exchange losses linked to euro-denominated bonds. Prosus is not escaping Tencent’s shadow overnight. But for the first time, it can point to a portfolio where every major operating ecosystem is profitable.
Read MoreWhat to expect from Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Table of contents Has Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch 9? When will the Galaxy Watch 9 release? How much will the Galaxy Watch 9 cost? What are the expected specs of the Galaxy Watch 9? Galaxy Watch 9 vs Galaxy Watch 8 What we still do not know A new Samsung smartwatch is coming, and every clue points straight at a Galaxy Watch 9. Samsung’s own health app, a new chip from Qualcomm, and a string of leaked filings all hint at an imminent launch, even though Samsung itself has stayed quiet about the name. This guide separates what’s confirmed from what remains speculation, so you know what to trust. It covers the expected launch date, pricing, key features and upgrades, and how the device compares with the Galaxy Watch 8. Has Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch 9? Not yet. As of June 19, 2026, Samsung has not sent out an Unpacked invite or used the name “Galaxy Watch 9” in any official statement. Two things tied to the watch have been confirmed, though. A Samsung Health app overhaul. On June 4, 2026, Samsung’s Global Newsroom announced a major update to the Samsung Health app, rolling out from June 8. Samsung says the update showcases the key health features of its upcoming Galaxy Watch, though it stopped short of naming the device. Hon Pak, who leads Samsung’s Digital Health team, said the update connects your health data to AI-driven insights, helping you better understand your body. The app now centers on five areas: Sleep, Activity, Nutrition, Mindfulness, and Vitals. New features include: Vitals checks five overnight signals (heart rate, heart rate variability, breathing rate, skin temperature, and blood oxygen) against your baseline and alerts you only when something is genuinely off. Heart Health Score, a single daily number that replaces last year’s Vascular Load and blends your sleep, stress, activity, and body composition data. Daily Cardio Load, which tracks how much strain your body has taken on and suggests when to train and when to rest. Fitness Index, which compares your heart rate, VO2 max, and daily steps against your peers. Hearing Health, which uses your watch’s microphone to flag loud environments that could damage your hearing. Antioxidant Index and AGEs Index upgrades, both of which now track trends over time instead of single readings. Samsung’s own footnote says these features will first be available on the upcoming Galaxy Watch, which means current Watch owners get the redesigned app now, but the full feature set is tied to new hardware. Samsung has also recently published two health studies tied to the Galaxy Watch line. A joint study with a hospital in Korea found that the Galaxy Watch 6 could predict a fainting episode up to 5 minutes before it occurred, with 84.6 percent accuracy. A separate study with Massachusetts General Hospital is using the Galaxy Watch 8 to track muscle loss in patients on GLP-1 medication. Neither study confirms a Watch 9 feature, but both show where Samsung’s health focus is heading. A new chip. At MWC 2026 in March, Qualcomm confirmed that the next Galaxy Watch will use its new Snapdragon Wear Elite chip. Samsung backed this up with an on-record quote from InKang Song, who leads technology strategy for Samsung’s mobile business, saying the new chip will help the watch become an even better wellness companion. Qualcomm named Samsung, Google, and Motorola as launch partners for the chip. Here is what the Snapdragon Wear Elite brings: A 3nm chip with one fast core at 2.1GHz and four efficiency cores at 1.95GHz. Up to 5 times the CPU power and 7 times the GPU power of the previous Snapdragon wearable chip, enough to render 1080p video at 60fps. A dedicated AI chip that can run models with up to 2 billion parameters right on your wrist, working through about 10 tokens every second. 30 percent more battery life than the last generation, plus a 50 percent charge in around 10 minutes. Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 6.0, UWB, GPS, 5G and satellite messaging support, all in one chip. There is one catch. Samsung and Qualcomm only said next-generation Galaxy Watch, not which model. Some reports say both the Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2 get the new chip. Others, including information from Notebookcheck, say only the Watch Ultra 2 gets the Snapdragon chip while the standard Watch 9 keeps the older Exynos W1000. This is still unresolved. The Unpacked date. Korean media reports point to July 22, 2026, in London, as the date for Samsung’s next Unpacked event, where the Galaxy Watch 9 line is expected to share the stage with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Flip 8, Z Fold 8 Wide and Samsung’s new Galaxy Glasses. Samsung has not confirmed this date. Regulatory filings. In the middle of June 2026, the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 cleared both FCC and CMIIT certification. The filings list model numbers SM-L340 and SM-L345 for the 40mm Watch 9, SM-L350 and SM-L355 for the 44mm Watch 9, and SM-L715 for the Watch Ultra 2. No Classic model number appeared in either filing, which is a strong sign that Samsung is skipping the Watch 9 Classic this year. A separate charging certification confirmed both watches stick with 10W wired charging, so do not expect faster charging this time around. When will the Galaxy Watch 9 release? Last year’s launch gives the clearest clue here. Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch 8 on July 9, 2025, and put it on sale on July 25, 2025, a gap of 16 days. If Samsung follows that same pattern, expect the Galaxy Watch 9 to go on sale in early August 2026. The leaked Unpacked date of July 22, 2026, would only mark the announcement, not the on-sale date, and Samsung has not confirmed even that date yet. How much will the Galaxy Watch 9 cost? Pricing is the one area where leaks have gone quiet. PhoneArena has made it clear that the Galaxy Watch
Read MoreGoogle’s Alex Okosi on what’s holding back Africa’s AI startups
On Thursday, Google graduated 15 startups from eight African countries through its Google for Startups Accelerator Africa programme in Nairobi. Most of these startups are building artificial intelligence (AI) into core products in payments, transport, agriculture, healthcare and enterprise software. Google said 60% of the cohort is already profitable, generating an average of $60,000 in monthly revenue. This year’s cohort arrives amid growing debate over whether Africa can turn AI adoption into sustainable, venture-scale businesses. The selected startups offer a snapshot of that transition. Founders are moving beyond experimentation and using the technology to solve operational challenges and build products for local markets. Yet the infrastructure and capital needed to scale those businesses remain in short supply. In an interview with TechCabal, Alex Okosi, Google’s managing director for Africa, said African startups have already embraced AI, but argued that investment has not kept pace. While founders are building AI-powered products and services, the continent still faces gaps in cloud infrastructure, data centre capacity and funding. Those constraints, he said, risk limiting Africa’s ability to capture the economic value created by the technology. AI could add as much as $1.5 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2035, equivalent to roughly 40% of the continent’s current GDP, if governments and private sector players move fast enough to deploy it at scale, according to projections from the African Development Bank. The technology, the bank estimates, could generate hundreds of thousands of jobs while significantly lifting labour productivity across key sectors. The tension between growing AI adoption and limited investment formed the backdrop to this year’s accelerator programme, which featured startups from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Angola. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Has Africa’s AI moment arrived, or are we still early? If you look at this cohort for Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, many of the companies are AI-first or AI-native because they have built AI into their products to solve real challenges across the continent. That’s the opportunity AI presents, and it’s what excites me about both the startup and fintech ecosystems. Take Mastery Hive, for example. The company is using machine learning to detect fraud across fragmented networks. We also have companies like Loop in South Africa using AI to optimise a complex transit network and manage worker payments. Those are clear examples of startups already embracing AI and putting it to work. That said, the continent still faces challenges. There is a lot of talent and engineering ingenuity in Africa, but infrastructure remains a constraint. Capital is also a major gap. Until investors from the Global North see Africa as a place where AI is being used to solve meaningful problems and deploy more capital here, that challenge will remain. Africa offers significant opportunities to scale and create value. However, it requires investors to view the continent as an AI opportunity rather than a market still waiting to adopt the technology. It’s a twofold story. African companies are already adopting AI and building solutions with it. But from a funding perspective, the level of investment is still not where it needs to be to fully capture the opportunity. What’s the biggest bottleneck to building AI at scale in Africa? Infrastructure remains one of the biggest bottlenecks. To build AI at scale, you need reliable connectivity, and that requires investment in foundational infrastructure such as subsea cables. That’s why projects like Equiano and Umoja are important. They help create the capacity needed for the digital economy to grow. Talent is another critical area. We’ve trained about eight million people in digital skills, giving them the foundations they need to participate in and benefit from the digital economy. We also need to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs). That’s an area we’ve focused on, helping around 35,000 small and medium-sized businesses grow and scale. Those businesses are a key part of the ecosystem. When it comes to AI specifically, compute power is essential. You need cloud infrastructure that developers can build on. That’s one reason we’re investing in our cloud region in South Africa and working to expand cloud adoption. The challenge is that Africa still accounts for only about 1% of global data centre capacity. As a result, many builders have to move data outside the continent for processing and then bring it back to deploy solutions. There’s a clear opportunity to increase local capacity. That will require collaboration between governments, technology companies and other players across the ecosystem. More investment in connectivity, cloud infrastructure and compute capacity will be necessary if we want to scale AI across the continent. Google is playing its part, but this is something that requires collective action from everyone involved in the ecosystem. Must startups have AI at the core of their products to join the programme? No, being an AI company is not a requirement to join the accelerator. That said, AI is an important area for us because we believe it can help startups build solutions faster, scale faster, optimise their operations and reach markets more effectively. We’re encouraging founders to understand how AI can be integrated into their businesses, whether through their workflows, products or business models. That’s why AI training is a key part of the programme. We want companies to understand how they can use the technology to accelerate growth. At the same time, I think we need to demystify AI. It’s not some mystical technology. It’s a tool that helps organisations process information more quickly, analyse large amounts of data and identify opportunities more effectively. For us, technology will play a major role in solving many of the continent’s challenges, and AI is one of the tools that can help make that happen. That’s why we’re continuing to invest in AI skills development. In 2024, we announced a $5.8 million grant programme across Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa to help civil servants and nonprofit leaders build AI capabilities. Through Google.org, we’re also focused on AI skilling across Africa, and
Read More
What we know so far about Samsung Galaxy Glasses
Table of contents When and where Why this launch matters more than usual Design and specs of the Samsung Galaxy Glasses At a glance What’s next: the display model Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Glasses? Samsung is getting ready to launch its first pair of smart glasses. Inside the company, the device is codenamed Jinju. In public materials, Samsung and Google currently refer to it as Intelligent Eyewear. You will probably know it by a simpler name once it ships, and most reports point to Samsung Galaxy Glasses. This is a brand-new product category for Samsung. The company built these glasses with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, two eyewear brands you have likely already seen in stores. Here is everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy Glasses so far, including the price, release date, and specs. When and where Samsung is expected to unveil the glasses at Galaxy Unpacked on July 22, 2026, in London. This comes from a report by Seoul Economic Daily, a South Korean outlet with a strong track record on past Samsung announcements. Korea Economic Daily TV picked up the same date. Samsung has not confirmed this date yet. The company usually sends out event invites two to three weeks ahead of Unpacked, so an official confirmation should land sometime in early July. The same event is expected to introduce the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Z Flip 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide, and Galaxy Watch 9 series. That puts five new products on one stage, making it one of Samsung’s biggest hardware days of the year. Even if Samsung shows the glasses at Unpacked, you might not be able to buy them right away. Samsung’s own newsroom says the first collections are scheduled to launch this fall in select markets. Some reports expect a tease in July followed by a proper launch later, similar to how Samsung handled the Galaxy XR headset and Galaxy Ring before they reached stores. Samsung has not announced pricing or availability for the UK, EU, or South Africa yet. Pound and euro prices you might come across online right now are simple currency conversions of the rumored US price, not confirmed regional pricing. Why this launch matters more than usual This launch carries more weight than a typical Samsung product reveal, for a few reasons. This is Samsung’s second Android XR device, after the Galaxy XR headset, which launched on October 21, 2025, at $1,799. Meta already controls most of this market. According to Counterpoint Research, Meta’s share of global smart glasses shipments rose to 82% in the second half of 2025, up from 73% in the first half of the year. AI-powered smart glasses made up 88% of all shipments during that period, and North America accounted for 37% of the market. Samsung is stepping into a space Meta already owns. Samsung also beat Apple to market. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple’s first smart glasses, known internally as N50, have slipped from a late 2026 introduction to a late 2027 launch. Apple is reportedly working through challenges with its visual AI and Siri, and its glasses are expected to cost between $200 and $500 once they ship. That gives Samsung and Google a big head start. Image source: Samsung Mobile Press Design and specs of the Samsung Galaxy Glasses The first model skips a screen completely. There is no display and no AR overlay. Instead, the glasses lean on audio and a built-in camera that feeds visual information to Google Gemini. Leaked renders from Android Headlines and tipster OnLeaks show a pair of glasses that appear to be regular eyewear. They weigh around 50 grams, with thin temples and a camera built into the frame instead of sitting on top of it. Samsung confirmed its partnership with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker for the glasses. Gentle Monster brings a bold, sharp look, while Warby Parker goes for a more classic style. Both brands showed off frames at Google I/O on May 19 and 20, 2026, and both companies say more styles and prescription lenses are coming later. Here is what reports point to for the hardware, though none of this is officially confirmed by Samsung yet: A 12-megapixel Sony IMX681 camera with autofocus, placed at eye level A Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 chip, possibly the newer AR1+ Gen 1 version Stereo speakers and multiple microphones for calls and voice commands Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi, with no built-in cellular connection Photochromic lenses that darken automatically in sunlight A touchpad on the right temple, plus an LED that lights up while the camera is recording On software, the glasses run Android XR with Gemini built in. Gemini can translate signs and conversations as they happen, summarize your notifications, manage your calendar, play music, and take photos when your hands are full. The glasses pair with both Android phones and iPhones, and you can control some functions from a Galaxy Watch. One spec that is still up in the air is battery size. Early leaks pointed to 155mAh. A more recent report from SamMobile, based on a certification filing, found a battery part numbered EB-BO200CAY rated at 245mAh, and Android Authority backed up the larger figure. The most likely explanation is that Samsung is building two different glasses models under the hood, with the smaller battery going to the basic version and the larger one going to a future model with a screen. For this first pair, the 245mAh figure is the better-sourced one right now, though you should treat it as unconfirmed until Samsung says otherwise. Outside estimates put battery life at around 6 to 8 hours of regular use, but that number has not come from Samsung either. At a glance What’s next: the display model A second pair of Galaxy Glasses is already in the works, and this one adds a screen. Reports point to a micro-LED display built into the lenses for true AR overlays, with a launch sometime in 2027 and a price between
Read More
Craydel co-founder Manish Sardana quit a high-flying job to start from zero
The offices of Craydel, a Pan-Africa edtech connecting African students to global universities, occupy a glass-partitioned floor at The Pavilion on Lower Kabete Road, away from Nairobi’s perpetual traffic and construction noise. Through the transparent walls, almost nothing is hidden. Student counsellors are fielding anxious calls from parents and students, while product managers huddle over laptops. Manish Sardana’s office sits in the middle of it all, deliberately so. On one side is the operations team; on the other, the engineers building the artificial intelligence (AI) engine that powers Craydel’s study abroad matchmaking tool. There is no imposing corner office separating the co-founder and CEO from the very people helping him build the company. He asks whether I would like tea. He orders coffee for himself. Sardana has the calm confidence of someone comfortable with uncertainty. He says he has spent his life restless, suspicious of comfort, and constantly searching for purpose. Raised in a modest household in India, he abandoned a place at the prestigious Delhi School of Economics before, over a decade later, walking away from a high-flying career at WPP Scangroup, a marketing and communications company, to build Craydel from scratch. Five years on, he says he has no regrets. He imagines himself still building, still searching for the next problem to solve, until his deathbed. That restlessness has not come cheaply. His family, he acknowledges, has carried part of that burden. “I’ve been married for 18 years now,” he says with a laugh. “So I must have done something right.” When pressed on what success ultimately looks like, he says it is whether his children, his parents, and the people closest to him feel proud of the life he chose to build. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You grew up in India, built businesses across continents, and eventually chose Africa. What part of yourself were you looking for that you couldn’t find elsewhere? A few things. First, all three co-founders were based in Kenya, so that anchored us here. But personally, I had the option to go back to India and start something there. I chose not to because this continent has been incredibly generous to me. I had sold my company in India and was at a loose end when I got the opportunity to come to Kenya. I built a successful career here, gained a lot, and felt I needed to give back. That was important to me because I see so many expats come, work a few years, make money, and leave. Very few actually stay and contribute to building something lasting. For me, that commitment was real—I invested almost everything I earned and saved here into my venture in Kenya. That was critical. Second, I’m genuinely happy here. Kenyans are warm, and the continent has massive human potential. Yet the number of people solving problems here is very small. In India, there are so many entrepreneurs building so many things—they didn’t need another Manish to start something there. But here, especially in higher education and study abroad, not much was happening. Nobody was disrupting the market; everyone was maintaining the status quo. So we saw an opportunity to do something interesting. I also built startups during my time with ScanGroup on the continent, and I’d turned those ventures into successes. That gave me the confidence to build something here and succeed. Manish (centre), Shayne Aman Premji, co-founder and CFO, and John Nguru, co-founder and CTO. Image source: Craydel Looking back at your twenties, what kind of man were you when nobody was watching? And what parts of that younger man are still alive today? I’m the same person whether someone is watching or not. That doesn’t change how I behave. I’m known for being authentic—for better or worse. In my twenties, I displayed traits like incredible risk-taking. I quit a top college I’d gotten into, in a fiercely competitive environment, and walked away from economics. I had a massive risk appetite then, and I still have it today. I love a challenge. I push myself into corners where I’m really tested. When I’m comfortable, it irritates me; I get bored and seek out new challenges. So, risk-taking, seeking challenges, always looking to build something that creates value—those were the traits I displayed in my twenties, and there’s plenty of evidence of them. I still have them today. When people introduce you, they list your achievements. What do the people who know you best say about you? The people who know me best would say a few things. First, Manish is never easily satisfied—no matter what he’s achieved or received, he wants more; he doesn’t stop. Second, they’d say I have a lot of grit and courage; I’m unshakable. No matter what life throws at me, I stay resilient. Third, they’d say I’m not someone seeking a “chill life.” That’s not me. I don’t seek a life of just joy and ease. And finally, they’d always tell you that Manish needs a very strong purpose to feel satisfied. Without purpose, I feel shallow. Most founders tell a story of opportunity. Yours often sounds like a story of conviction. What is the most expensive belief you’ve ever held onto? The belief that “good is not good enough.” That’s cost me a lot. You achieve something, you feel good, but I never feel it’s enough. So I keep pushing harder, and sometimes it comes at a personal cost; my family has to bear with me. For context, when I quit my job at Scan Group to start Craydel, I was at the peak of my career. I had a great reputation, I was making good money, in a strong position, growing fast. I’d worked incredibly hard to get there. Then I gave it all up to start from zero again. That’s an example of a belief that costs me a lot of money, hardships, and relationships. It just never feels enough. Do you regret it? No, not at all. But I’ve become
Read MoreStarlink grabs headlines, but Safaricom keeps winning broadband users
Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecoms company, added more broadband subscribers in the first quarter than Starlink has gained in Kenya since launch, underscoring the gap between the attention surrounding satellite internet and its current scale in the market. The telecom operator gained 83,107 fixed internet subscribers in the quarter ended March, raising its customer base to 941,501, according to the latest data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). That compares with Starlink’s total subscriber base of 24,999 customers, which grew by just 2,717 during the period. The figures suggest that while Starlink has captured the attention of regulators, policymakers and rivals, Kenya’s broadband market remains firmly in the hands of operators that have spent years building fibre infrastructure. The data also indicates that incumbents are responding to the satellite threat with faster speeds and revised pricing, intensifying competition in a market where fibre still accounts for the majority of connections. In April, Safaricom doubled speeds on several home fibre packages without raising prices, while rivals including Zuku and Jamii Telecommunications have also revised broadband plans as operators battle for market share. Safaricom’s fixed internet market share rose to 35.4% from 34.9% in the previous quarter, extending its lead over Jamii Telecommunications (JTL), the operator behind the Faiba brand. Jamii added 23,120 subscribers, bringing its customer base to 517,270, though its market share slipped to 19.5% from 20.1%. Several smaller fibre providers also outpaced Starlink’s growth. Vilcom Network added 26,569 subscribers during the quarter, while Ahadi Wireless gained 23,363 customers. The numbers come as Kenya’s fibre providers ramp up competition to defend market share against Starlink, whose entry into the country in 2023 sparked fears that satellite internet could upend the economics of fixed broadband. Yet subscriber growth suggests fibre remains the preferred option for most households and businesses where coverage exists. Safaricom alone added more than three times the number of customers Starlink serves nationwide. However, not all broadband providers benefited from the surge in subscriptions. Poa! Internet, which targets lower-income neighbourhoods with affordable home internet packages, lost 6,788 subscribers during the quarter. Its customer base fell to 256,517, while market share declined from 10.7% to 9.7%. The divergence suggests scale is becoming more important in Kenya’s broadband market. Larger operators are using network reach, bundled services and speed upgrades to attract customers, while smaller providers face pressure from both fibre rivals and satellite entrants. The numbers point to a broadband market where scale still favours fibre operators. Starlink continues to expand in underserved areas, but the industry’s largest players are adding customers at a pace that satellite internet has yet to match.
Read MoreEvery product Google has announced so far in 2026
Table of contents Gemini models Gemini app Google Search Shopping Google Workspace YouTube Android Android XR and Intelligent Eyewear Developer tools Sub Heading 2 Google’s first half of 2026 has been defined by one word: agents. From new Gemini models and an upgraded Search experience to AI-powered shopping tools, Google has spent the first half of the year weaving artificial intelligence into nearly every product it makes. The message from Google’s annual I/O developer conference and other announcements is clear: the company wants Gemini to become the connective tissue across its ecosystem, helping users search, shop, work, create, and complete tasks on their behalf. If you missed the barrage of announcements, here’s everything Google has unveiled in 2026 so far. 1. Gemini models: Google’s biggest announcements of 2026 Google’s AI ambitions took centre stage this year, with the company unveiling new Gemini models built around reasoning, speed, and action. I. Gemini 3.5 Flash Gemini 3.5 Flash is Google’s new default AI model across the Gemini app and AI-powered Search experiences. According to Google, Gemini 3.5 Flash combines frontier-level intelligence with the ability to take action across complex workflows. The company says the model outperforms Gemini 3.1 Pro on coding, multimodal and agentic benchmarks while operating at a significantly lower cost. Google also claims it generates outputs four times faster than comparable frontier models. For users, this could mean faster responses and improved performance on multi-step tasks. The company announced the model on May 19 at its I/O 2026 developer conference and was rolled out the same day. II. Gemini 3.5 Pro Google also previewed Gemini 3.5 Pro, which it positions as the most capable model in the Gemini 3.5 family. While Gemini 3.5 Flash is optimised for speed and everyday use, Gemini 3.5 Pro is designed for advanced reasoning, complex coding, research-intensive tasks and sophisticated agentic workflows. At Google I/O 2026, CEO Sundar Pichai said the model was expected to become available in June 2026. III. Gemini Omni Gemini Omni represents Google’s next step in multimodal AI. Unlike traditional AI models that primarily process text, Gemini Omni can accept images, audio, video and text as input. Google says the model can generate videos grounded in real-world understanding and edit them through natural-language conversations. The company describes Gemini Omni as a system that can “create anything from any input,” starting with video. The first model in the Gemini Omni family, Gemini Omni Flash, is being rolled out through Google’s video creation ecosystem. Google says the model powers video generation and editing experiences in the Gemini app and Google Flow, with the broader goal of making high-quality video creation accessible to users without professional editing skills. 2. Gemini app: From chatbot to personal agent The Gemini app is evolving beyond a simple AI assistant. Google says the app is becoming more agentic, with new capabilities that can use context, learn user preferences over time, and help complete multi-step tasks across Google services. At Google I/O 2026, the company announced new agents and automation features designed to provide more personalised assistance, organise information, and proactively help users accomplish everyday tasks. Gemini Spark Google introduced Gemini Spark, a personal agent designed to complete tasks on users’ behalf. It is currently rolling out to AI Ultra subscribers in the US, with a broader rollout planned for later in the year. Spark can: Work across Google services Continue tasks in the background Handle recurring workflows Personalise assistance based on user context. Daily Brief Daily Brief is Gemini’s personalised morning digest. Drawing on information from Gmail, Google Calendar, tasks, and connected Gemini context, it organises and prioritises the day’s most important items. Beyond summarising information, Daily Brief suggests next steps and actions, helping users stay on top of their schedule and responsibilities. Over time, it can adapt to user preferences to deliver more relevant briefings. Gemini Live upgrades Gemini Live received major updates designed to make interactions more fluid and conversational. Users can switch seamlessly between typing and speaking without losing context, while a redesigned voice experience enables more natural conversations. Google also announced support for regional dialects and deeper integration of Gemini Live across the Gemini app. A redesigned Gemini experience Google introduced Neural Expressive, a new design language for the Gemini app. The refresh brings: Fluid animations Updated typography Improved haptic feedback A more visual interface across Android, iOS, and the web 3. Google Search: The biggest upgrade in years Google Search is evolving from a list of links into an AI-powered assistant. With new capabilities announced at Google I/O 2026, Google Search can answer complex questions, reason across multiple sources, and help users complete tasks directly from the search experience. Search powered by Gemini 3.5 Flash Google has integrated Gemini 3.5 Flash into its AI-powered Search experiences, including AI Mode and AI Overviews. This upgrade enables more complex queries and more comprehensive, context-aware responses across Search. Interactive answers Search will increasingly present AI-generated responses alongside traditional results, with more interactive and visually rich formats. Depending on the query, users may see dynamic layouts, visual elements such as charts or images, and explanations tailored to the context of their question. Long-running tasks Google is introducing agent-like capabilities in Search that support multi-step and ongoing tasks, allowing users to continue and track certain workflows over time. Search is increasingly designed to help users complete tasks as well as find information. 4. Shopping: Google’s buying assistant Shopping is also receiving the AI treatment. Google wants to help users move from discovery to purchase with minimal friction. Universal Cart Universal Cart is one of the biggest new Shopping announcements. It is a Gemini-powered shopping cart and agentic hub available across Google Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail (with integrations rolling out progressively). Once you add a product, Google can proactively: Monitor price drops Track price history insights Surface deals automatically Alert users about stock availability Recommend alternative or similar products It is also designed to better understand shopping context, including: Relevant merchant offers and promotions Payment-related incentives within
Read MoreFintech Yoco thinks South Africa’s small businesses need fewer apps
Yoco, a South African fintech company, built its business by helping small merchants accept card payments. Now it wants to help them run their entire businesses. At its Yoco Next 2026 event in Johannesburg on Tuesday, the company unveiled more than 20 new products and features, including AI-powered business tools, loyalty programmes, savings products, accounting integrations, industry-specific software and a R250 million ($15.2 million) annual reduction in transaction fees for merchants. Carl Wazen, Yoco’s co-founder and chief business officer, said the announcements reflect a broader shift in strategy. The startup now wants to provide the software that small businesses use to manage their operations. From inventory and accounting to bookings, customer loyalty, cash flow and reporting, many business owners rely on multiple disconnected tools. Yoco’s goal is to bring those functions into a single platform. “Yoco started by giving independent businesses access to payments,” said Wazen. “Today, we are giving them the tools that used to belong only to big business, at a price built for small business.” Founded in 2015, the fintech serves more than 200,000 merchants across South Africa and offers payment devices, software, business financing and commerce tools. But executives say payments are becoming just one part of the business. “We are no longer just a payments company,” chief executive officer (CEO) Carsten Höltkemeyer told TechCabal. “We are a company that helps business owners reduce administrative burdens and simplify everyday operations through modern technology and innovation.” One of the innovations unveiled on Tuesday is Yoco AI, an artificial intelligence assistant expected to launch in the third quarter of 2026. Developed after the company acquired Dyner.ai, an AI-native operating system built to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in May, the tool will analyse transaction data, customer behaviour and business performance to help merchants make decisions about their businesses. “If you can use data to better understand your revenue streams, customer behaviour and business performance, you’re in a stronger position to succeed,” Höltkemeyer said. “We want to give merchants access to the kinds of insights and capabilities that large corporations have traditionally enjoyed.” The company’s CEO also unveiled the Yoco Connect, a hub that links accounting software, e-commerce platforms and inventory systems. It has launched dedicated software for restaurants, retailers, salons, and wellness businesses, each designed around the operational needs of its sector. For Kelly Gibberd, founder of Cape Town-based fashion retailer Me&B, managing a growing business involves far more than processing payments. Gibberd’s company employs 55 people, supports 10 local factories, operates physical stores and runs an e-commerce platform. As a manufacturer and retailer, Gibberd said rising costs and increasing competition have made operations more complex. “Manufacturing in South Africa comes with limitations; costs remain a huge challenge, and customers compare us to global fast-fashion giants like Shein and Temu,” she said. Tools that simplify inventory management, customer engagement, reporting, and cash flow management could help businesses spend less time on administration and more time serving customers, Gibberd added. Alongside the new software products, Yoco said it has reduced transaction fees by up to 40% across parts of its network. “It’s an investment in our customer base,” Höltkemeyer said. “Reducing our fees is an investment in small businesses, but we also believe the new products and services we are launching will create a much bigger opportunity for both Yoco and our merchants.”
Read More